The media and fans in attendance at the Tuesday press luncheon laughed. Colorado's second-year head coach chuckled and then added:

"You're doubting that?"

Starting Schrock -- a 6-4, 220-pound whip-smart redshirt freshman walk-on -- wouldn't have been as much of a joke as what took place during the Buffs' 48-0 loss to the No. 15 Cardinal on Saturday at Folsom Field.

The old saying goes: If you have two starting quarterbacks, then you don't really have one.

The Buffs used three quarterbacks against Stanford. None of them appear to be worthy of starting the 2013 opener against Colorado State.

"I will talk more about the whole situation on Tuesday," Embree said after CU was blanked on the scoreboard at home for the first time in 26 years. "I just don't want to say anything right now because I don't want it to seem like people are being blamed. Tuesday, I'll announce some stuff."

Jordan Webb remained the starter and completed 4 of 10 passes for 19 yards with one interception (returned 52 yards for a touchdown) in the first half. The junior was sacked three times.

Nick Hirschman received a Bronx cheer from the diehards when he was inserted into the game briefly in the first quarter. The sophomore completed both of his pass attempts for a total of four yards and was sacked two times before the break.

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CU trailed 35-0 at the intermission.

At that point, the offense had generated 20 net yards and two first downs (one by penalty) on 26 plays. Darragh O'Neill had 224 yards punting on five attempts to highlight the Buffs' effort.

Connor Wood entered the game on the final possession of the third quarter and connected with Nick Kasa for a 14-yard gain on his first throw. In the fourth quarter, Wood hit Kasa on a 20-yard pass play to get CU across the 50-yard line for the first time in the game.

Those would be the offensive highlights for the Buffs.

"It looks that way," Wood said when asked if he viewed the starting job as open nine games into the season.

In fairness to all of the quarterbacks, the offensive line -- which graded out higher than any other unit on the team during lopsided losses at USC and Oregon -- was dominated by Stanford's defensive front.

"I don't think we're trying to think about that too much," Kasa said of the revolving door under center. "That is the coaches' deal I guess. It could have something to do with us not getting into rhythm. I think we all need to collectively do our jobs and make the plays we know we can make."

There are three games left for the 1-8 Buffs. It really doesn't matter who CU's quarterback of record is in meaningless games against Arizona, Washington or Utah.

Based on the play at the position so far, a strong argument can be made that Shane Dillon, who is redshirting this fall while running the scout team, should get all of the first-team reps during spring drills.

"Shane will be a factor," Embree promises.

The coaching staff had better hope the 6-7 freshman from El Cajon, Calif., is a future Pac-12 star.

Right now Buffs fans have to be worried, among many other things, about the ability of this CU regime to evaluate and develop the most important position in football.

Last year Embree and Co. gave scholarships to quarterbacks Brent Burnette, Stevie Joe Dorman and Wood. They all watched Tyler Hansen finally get his opportunity to break the huddle and lead the team without looking over his shoulder to see if Cody Hawkins was putting a helmet on.

After Hansen's graduation it was time to turn the page and get a fresh start under center.

Burnette, a junior college transfer, never took a snap in 2011 and decided not to play his senior season this fall. Dorman, a redshirt freshman, is fifth on the depth chart.

Wood was penciled in as the new starter after taking all of the meaningful snaps last spring. But the Texas transfer is currently the Buffs' No. 3 option.

This summer CU brought in Webb at the last minute to compete with Wood. The Kansas transfer won the job with ease three weeks after opening the playbook for the first time.

Hirschman, who was recruited by the former staff, is probably wondering about his future in this program after watching Webb start again on Saturday.

"I try to go in every week looking for a chance to start," Hirschman said. "It makes you better when you are out there working. That decision is up to the coaches, and the best guy is going to play."

This season has been hopeless since the humiliating September losses to Colorado State, Sacramento State and Fresno State.

At least Dillon provides a glimmer of hope for the future.

CU also has a quarterback commitment (Sefo Liufau) and an offer out to a second prospect (Kelly Hilinski) in the 2013 class. That means if none of the current signal callers transfer out, Embree could have as many as seven of them on scholarship in 2013.

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